Running Back to You
by dancinginthestarlight
Summary: After that fateful night, Chloe King's life has fallen apart. But she's not the only one who's broken. Just how will they ever be able to pick up all the pieces again? "And when all the dust is settled, you're the only thing I know is true."  Post-finale
1. Chapter 1

"Chloe. Chloe, wake up."

Voices. That was all she could register. Just voices amidst the endless darkness.

"Oh my god, is she really okay?" The voice was feminine and slightly high-pitched, obviously distressed.

"They said she'll be fine."

"But it's been three days!"

"Listen to me, Amy." This time, the voice was cool and serious, firm and soothing all at the same time. "These people know what they're doing. She'll be okay."

"But—"

A sigh. "She needs the rest, especially after everything…"

"Have you heard from Alek?"

"He's still looking."

"I can't believe…This is just all…"

"I know."

* * *

><p><em>"I think I'm falling in love with you."<em>

She was there again.

She didn't really know how or when or why, but she was.

She was standing all by herself under the faint light of a single lamp post. As she inhaled the fresh ocean breeze that blew her way, she looked around—at the bridge, bright and majestic and full of life as always, and at the water, shimmering endlessly under all the city lights.

Then, finally, she closed her eyes, and she remembered. His smile, their late-afternoon talks over cups of coffee and plates of madeleines, how he told her—right at this very place—that he was falling in love with her…

It hurt. It always did. But, somehow, she preferred the pain over the numb emptiness she was slowly getting used to.

Before she knew it, she was running. Running until her legs were aching and her lungs were burning—until the pain she felt was finally more physical than emotional.

But she was tired. She was so, so tired of running away.

It had been three weeks. Three weeks since the first time she had woken up at the hospital and wished she hadn't at all. Three weeks since being awake had somehow begun to terrify her as much as falling asleep did. Just three weeks. That was all it took for absolutely everything to change.

They were gone—Brian and Valentina and Jasmine—and it was all her fault.

She was supposed to be the savior but, when it really came down to it, she had ended up being anything but that.

She began running even harder, pushing off the ground with more force than ever before. She started to clench her fists tighter and tighter and tighter, until her nails were digging as deep as they could into the palms of her hands.

Then, like always, she heard their voices, intermingling, in the back of her mind. Brian's and Valentina's and Jasmine's.

But, on that dark, chilly night, something happened for the first time in three weeks—something that was extraordinary and out of the blue and unexpected. Though, later on, after giving everything more thought, she found that what happened next actually didn't surprise her at all. As if, deep down, she knew it was bound to happen all along.

She was just running against the wind as she usually did—eyes closed, with the adrenaline quickly and steadily taking over her system—when she found herself crashing into someone's chest.

For the first time in three weeks, she was being stopped.

Suddenly, someone was pulling her in, and she felt arms—firm and steady and warm—wrapping around her.

She knew who it was, without even having to give it a single thought.

It wasn't until then, with her face buried in his soft, cotton jacket, that she realized she had actually been sobbing uncontrollably; nearly screaming, in fact. In an attempt to control her unsteady whimpers, she breathed in his scent; something that she hadn't encountered in over three weeks.

He was back. Just right on time, as always, to catch her as she fell.

She knew she didn't deserve this - him doing this for her yet again - not after everything, not after what she had done to him.

For now though, she'd just be grateful.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hi guise. ;D Thanks for reading. HAHAH. Um, so I'm just trying out this idea I had..but because I'm an idiot, after writing this chapter, I suddenly got lost. T_T That mindfudge of a finale really is freaking hard to follow. :| I'm pretty proud of this chapter though :3 and more reviews will make all the unicorns and giraffes and narwhals explode with joy! and doesn't that sound nice?[:


	2. Chapter 2

Taking a breath, she stared back at her own reflection in the mirror. She had been at this for almost an hour, but something still wasn't right. Leaning in closer, she proceeded to put on another careful application of concealer, realizing that the dark circles under her eyes were still more noticeable than she was comfortable with.

As soon as that was over with, she parted and reparted her hair until it was nice and neat and just perfectly Chloe King. Nothing more, nothing less…

_…And nothing broken_, she finished darkly in her head.

* * *

><p>Her mom was against it at first, but somehow, Chloe managed to convince her that staying at home all day wasn't making things any better. In the eerie silence, present regardless of whether or not her mom was home, it was difficult to escape her thoughts-and that was the last thing she needed right now. So, for the first time in almost a month, she was going back to school.<p>

She slipped on her boots and slung her bag over her shoulders, shutting the door to her room before making her way downstairs.

She thought back to the last three weeks, and she realized that this would be the first time she'd actually be going back to her her life before everything that happened. Or what was left of it, at least.

When she finally reached the end of the staircase, she was greeted by a sight that she was utterly surprised to see.

"What are you guys doing here?"

At the sound of her voice, Amy and Paul suddenly whirled around to face her.

It wasn't until then that she realized she hadn't spoken to them at all in over three weeks.

Paul tried his best to give her a comforting smile, but Amy's fear and anxiety were plainly written all over her face.

It was her mom who broke the unwavering silence, however. "Oh, uh, I called them over, actually. You were so insistent on going back early, so I thought maybe you three should all go together for today…"

"Oh." She breathed lightly, hoping that her face betrayed no sign of how she truly felt. "Alright, let's go then."

* * *

><p>They had been walking slowly down the streets of San Francisco in silence. She was five, maybe ten or so steps ahead, leading them in her usual route to school. The silence was strange and foreign, but she just didn't know what to say; or if there was anything to be said at all, really.<p>

"So..um, I heard Alek's back?" Paul offered out of the blue, another one of his attempts at conversation.

It had started with Marvel superheroes and his latest theories on Spiderman; none of which worked out too well.

Thinking back to the events of the night before, Chloe nodded once. "Yeah, I guess he is."

Paul looked uncertain as to whether he should dwell into this particular territory, but he did anyways. It was the only way he was getting her to talk, after all. "Oh…so did he, uh, find anything?"

"Didn't talk to him," she stated, simply and shortly.

To her surprise, it wasn't Paul's voice that she heard next.

"Don't do this, Chloe."

She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Amy, wondering what on earth she was talking about now; and it was only then that she noticed the fact that her friend was ghostly pale. Her eyes were bloodshot, practically brimming with tears, and her normally wavy dark hair was a frizzy mess. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who has having sleepless nights.

"Don't shut us out," whispered Amy.

Chloe drew in a sharp intake of breath, feeling her throat start to tighten. She didn't like where this conversation was going. "I'm not."

Unfortunately, even to her own ears, her words sounded weak and very much untrue.

Amy closed her eyes briefly, a pained expression on her face. "But you are, Chloe. You are. And you don't have to."

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

Amy shook her head. "Ever since you were discharged from the hospital, you haven't been returning any of my messages. Or Paul's. You've quit your job at the shop, and whenever we come over to visit, you get your mom to make up some excuse about why you can't see us." Distressed, Amy ran a hand through her hair, "Look, I know it's hard, sweetie. Probably harder than I can ever imagine. But we're here for you, don't push us away."

Amy took a brief pause, letting her words sink in, before continuing. "It's scaring me, Chloe. It's scaring us."

Chloe took that opportunity to glance at Paul. As usual, he had his hands in his pockets, his solemn gaze averted to the concrete pathway beneath them. He never was good with these serious talks and confrontations—even back then—but Chloe didn't think she had ever seen him look as uncomfortable as he did now. Afterwards, she looked at Amy, who was staring back at her with pleading eyes; desperate to have her best friend back.

Though these were the people she had known since the beginning of time, the ones who had her back for as long she could remember, the ones who knew her every bit as well as she knew herself—she hadn't expected them to see through her so easily. Especially not this time around.

And she wouldn't let them.

So even though it broke her heart, even though she wanted to kick and scream and cry, even though it hurt so much, she did what she had to do.

No one else was going to suffer the consequences of being too close to Chloe King.

"You know what, Amy?" She began, hoping that neither of them would notice the slight quiver she could hear in her own voice. "I don't need this. _Not now. Not from you. _Do you know how sick and tired I am of always having to deal with things like this? Of having to put aside my own feelings and needs just because of everyone else's? Maybe this is scaring you or even hurting you, but people are dead because of me. And I can't be okay again just to make you feel better, alright?" She shook her head. "Not this time. Maybe it's not what you want to hear, but I am _done_, Amy. I have way too much on my plate right now without you trying to tell me what to do or how to feel. I can't do this anymore. I'm so sorry, but I'm done."

Paul's jaw dropped, and Amy looked so taken aback, so terrified, as tears streamed silently down her face.

Chloe sucked in a breath, closing her eyes. She had to leave now, before she faltered and took everything back. "Maybe my mom was right. Maybe this was a bad idea, after all."

She began walking away, but someone called out her name again: Paul. "Chloe—"

She looked back momentarily, speaking more softly this time. "Just stay away for now. _Please._"

Then, with her heart feeling heavier than ever before, she walked on, increasing the distance between them. All the while, she tried to convince herself that she had done the right thing, that she had no other choice. Delivering the hard blow early on was the best option she had. If she had let them see even for a second how truly broken and damaged she was—she knew that they would never even think of leaving her side. However, there were people were after her - people who wanted her dead, people who knew all too well that her strongest weaknesses were the people she loved.

Now a mile or two away, Chloe tried her best to pretend that she didn't hear the painfully familiar and heartbreaking sobs of someone she once thought she would never lose.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Meh. This was so hard to write. -_-" Especially since I'm not a very dark person. -le sigh- I tried. xD Heh, but I hope you guys like it..and I'd really appreciate some reviews. Thanks as always[:


	3. Chapter 3

Just as she expected, her mom had already left for work by the time she finally made it back home.

Being alone in an empty house was almost like a death sentence. Especially these days. As much as she loathed it, however, she was way too exhausted to go anywhere else.

She dropped her bags by the door then bolted straight up the stairs and into her room. She plopped directly onto her bed, not even pausing to change or to take her shoes off.

She stared at the ceiling: white and bare. _Don't think about it, Chloe. Don't think._

Grabbing her iPod Touch from its usual spot on the nightstand, she plugged on her earphones and turned up the music to full blast. It was the easiest way out—the best distraction.

* * *

><p>Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Before she knew it, it was nightfall—but she was still exactly where she was, listening to her playlist for exactly the thirteenth time in a row.<p>

She hadn't fallen asleep though, not once.

Every time her eyes came close to finally squeezing shut, she would just pinch herself. She needed to stay awake. She had to. Sleep was almost too terrifying a place.

Now though, she was on the verge of just giving in. Her eyelids were beginning to feel heavy, and they were drooping slowly, oh so slowly...

All of a sudden, a cool breeze entered her room and a she heard a loud thud that instantly made her jolt up into a sitting position.

Alek.

With great timing, like always.

"Hello," he said, slightly breathless.

She tugged off her earphones angrily and glared at him. "What do you want?"

"Ooh, feisty, are we?" He replied, leaning back against the window sill with a smirk on his face.

"Get out."

"Okay, look. I know I've been gone a while. You missed me. I get it. No need for the cold shoulder." He said, raising both his hands innocently.

She rolled her eyes and lay back down; turning the music back on. She didn't want to deal with this right now. She didn't want to deal with him if he wasn't even going to have a decent conversation.

"Get up. We have to train."

He continued talking, but she just turned the volume up louder and louder, drowning out his words.

Finally, he sighed, "Don't ignore me, Chloe."

She closed her eyes; doing just that.

"Okay, so you really want to do this the hard way?"

The next thing she knew, it was quiet. The music was gone—despite the fact that her earphones were still intact. She opened her eyes to find her iPod in his hands.

"David Archuleta?" He asked, with an interested expression on his face, successfully hearing the song playing without even having to put the iPod up to his ear.

She gritted her teeth, "Give it back."

Alek raised his eyebrow, "Really now? Where'd all your manners fly off to, young lady?"

What was he trying to do?

She flared her nostrils. "Fine then. Please."

Slowly, he began to turn towards the window. She didn't like where this was going.

"Just give it back, Alek!"

He looked back at her, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Come and get it then."

Then, he jumped out the window.

Chloe bit back a frustrated yell, quickly scrambling up to run after him.

* * *

><p>He really wasn't going easy on her.<p>

That pissed her off even more—and she wasn't even in a good mood to begin with.

By now, they had already run probably ten miles or so, easy.

She focused her vision on the head of shaggy blond hair that was ahead of her, and she unleashed her Mai instincts full-on.

If that was how it was going to be, then she wasn't going to hold back either.

She powered forward, and as soon as she was just a couple inches away, reached over and tackled him down.

Things like this came easy too her—almost too easy when she was particularly annoyed.

For the next minute or so, their heavy panting was all that could be heard in the silent night.

"Hm, you're enjoying this, aren't you?"

She stared at him in confusion as he placed his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner, looking smug as ever. It wasn't until then that she realized she was actually straddling him, and hadn't even bothered to move for a whole five minutes now.

"You wish."

She felt warmth beginning to creep into her cheeks; so she snatched her iPod away from his grasp and stood up before he could notice. She began walking down the direction they came from, when he grabbed a hold of her wrist and whirled her back around.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Home, if you really feel the need to know where I like to go at two in the morning."

"Well, that's too bad because I'm not letting you leave."

She narrowed her eyes.

"I know you heard me back there. We need to train."

"I don't want to. Leave me alone, Alek."

He scoffed at her, "Oh, cut out the attitude, Chloe."

"Why are you acting like this?"

He crossed his arms over his chest, raising his eyebrow questioningly. "I believe I should be the one asking that question."

She shook her head, closing her eyes, "Stop acting like nothing happened."

"Stop acting like you're the only that got screwed over," he shot back. "Believe it or not, we all lost someone that night, Chloe."

Tears started welling up in her eyes. She looked at him, saying in a broken whisper. "Don't you think I know that? It's all my fault. They're gone. They're gone, and it's because of me."

"You know that's not true." His expression softened, "What happened...what happened was messed up and twisted and terrible. But it's not your fault. It doesn't mean that you don't deserve to live or to be happy ever again, Chloe. That's not what it means."

She sniffled, quickly wiping the tear drops that were beginning to fall from her eyes. "Then what _does _it mean, Alek? Because they didn't deserve to die either. If anyone did, it should've been me."

He placed his hands on either side of her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "Don't say that. I know it doesn't feel right to be here, while they're...not. But you're not alone."

He sighed, "Look at me."

She had nothing to lose, so she did. She looked up at him, into his eyes, sincere, serious, and pained all at once.

"I'm not forgetting them, Chloe. That's not what I'm doing." He swallowed, "While I was out there, hunting down Zane, I didn't want to do anything but curl up in a hole and lock myself away. I wanted to just sit there…and cry. And that's what I did. I cried for hours. You say I'm the one who's forgetting, but it's not me who's forgetting…it's you." He looked up at the dark, night sky for a moment. "It hurts, and I don't think it will ever stop hurting, but...I'm not going to put my life on hold either. That's not what they would've wanted. So, you living your life like this, pushing everyone away and not even living at all. That's the bigger joke to their memory, don't you think?"

He paused for a moment,"That's not what they would've wanted for you, Chloe. So, we need to do this together, alright? We need to train and fight and train even more if that's what needs to happen. We need to not let them die in vain. Okay?"

His words hit home.

And so, for the first time since everything that had happened, she let down all the walls that she had been working so hard to hold up.

She didn't know who took the first step to close the space between them—maybe it was him, most likely her, she didn't really know—but in the very end, it was the two of them. Just like the night before. Except this time, they were both in the moment. This time, it wasn't just him holding onto her. This time, she was clutching back just as tightly, as she finally cried all the pain away.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hey! Long time no update. HAHAH. School just started, so I've been pretty busy. :3 Hm, there's not much to explain about this chapter. Just that I hoped you like it and that you guys need to review or the world will end. ;] Heheh. Okay, bye!(:


	4. Chapter 4

"You're insane."

"Insanely attractive? Yeah, I know. But it's great that you're finally admitting it, Chloe."

She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, doing the best she could to keep herself from exploding in rage. _In and out, Chloe. In and out._

"So, did you have a nice nap?"

Oops. Too late.

"HOW THE HELL DID WE END UP IN LOS ANGELES!" Chloe screamed.

Alek looked at her passively from the corner of his eye. "…Guess it wasn't so pleasant, then. Nightmare or something?"

In between clenched teeth, she managed to express herself in a low, harsh tone. "Answer. the. question."

Alek took his eyes off the road for a few seconds to stare at Chloe as if she had asked him the most ridiculous question on Earth…like where milk came from. "Gee, Chloe. I don't know. I think the magical unicorns gave us a ride…or. OH. OH! Maybe we swam with the narwhals. Gosh, which is it?"

Chloe pounded him on the head.

He yelled. "OW. WHAT WAS THAT FOR."

She scoffed, twisting in her seat so that her back was to the window and she was facing him. "OH. I DON'T KNOW. FOR KIDNAPPING ME, AMONG ALL OTHER THINGS. YOU PEDO!"

He furrowed his eyebrows, utter disbelief in his expression. "HOW AM I A PEDO?"

"YOU JUST ARE."

"I am NOT," Alek told her indignantly.

"Oh yeah?" Chloe challenged. "But you're a creepy kidnapper AND you're older than me. I don't know about you, but I think that certainly fits the description of a pedo."

Alek rolled his eyes. "Oh please. It's not creepy kidnapping if you like it."

She choked on air.

"Okay, okay. Don't die on me now. It's not the end of the world if you just finally admit it."

"WHAT THE FUDGE ARE YOU BABBLING ABOUT. DO I _LOOK _LIKE I LIKE IT?"

"No, I know you, Chloe. This is your defense mechanism."

Chloe's breath caught in her throat. Defense. Walls. Pain. Isolation. Those were the words that flashed through her mind after Alek spoke. Then, she remembered. The last three weeks, and all that had happened the night before. _Strange._ She really didn't know how she managed to forget at all. Maybe it was the shock of waking up to something as unexpected to this, to something as normal, annoying, and painfully amusing as bickering with Alek.

Suddenly, her head and her heart hurt again.

"Pull over." Her voice was cold, icy, emotionless.

She was staring straight ahead, but she felt Alek's gaze on her; probably wondering what brought about the sudden change of tone and conversation.

"Why?" he asked cautiously.

"Just do it, Alek. _God._"

He pursed his lips, almost as if he were actually contemplating it. Then, slowly, he began shaking his head. "No, not until you give me a proper answer."

She gazed out the window. The sun was shining bright in the sky, and a long road stretched ahead of them. On either side were vast expanses of desert—sandy brown and lifeless as ever. Just like her.

"I just want to go home, Alek. I want to think. I want to sort this all out. My head…my heart….I feel like I'm going to explode. I don't know what to feel, or even how to feel, and all these thoughts are just always so jumbled up in my head and I can't even think straight." As she spoke, she felt waves of sadness and grief beginning to overwhelm her—as if the weight on her heavy heart was finally being lifted from her shoulders. The tears silently streamed down her face, dripping down onto the hands that were folded over her lap. "_Please_. I don't know how much more of this I can take. It hurts so much…"

To Chloe's surprise, she felt the car turn into a sharp swerve on the side of the road. Goosebumps erupted all over her skin as she heard the sharp, hair-raising screech of the tires skidding to a final stop.

He grabbed her hand, placing it right above his chest—and, just like that; she could feel the steady beats of his heart beneath her palm. "Do you feel that, Chloe? I'm real. I'm here. You don't need to run away from me."

Chloe gulped, and though Alek's words were meant to be soothing and kind, she still felt that sharp twang of pain shooting through her chest. Because, once again, Alek knew. It was almost as if he could see right through her. An open book; easily read, a puzzle and a mystery that were quick to solve. He saw her pathetic attempts at avoiding the pain just for what it was.

Strangely though, his eyes only held sincere sadness—both his and hers—and a flicker of hope; not pity nor judgment.

"We need this, Chloe. You need this. Okay?" He inhaled gently, "So will you trust me?"

She nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Ahh. Hi guys! It's been a while. But school's been hectic. Heheh. I hope you guys like this chapter. REVIEWS MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND! and also motivates me to update faster. xD -winkwink-


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